ON THEIR HONEYMOON in Italy, neighborhood residents Olivia Dillan and Ben Balzer floated by Marco Polo’s house on a canal in Venice, which inspired Dillan to leave the tech industry behind.

Then serendipity took charge. Three weeks after Dillan and Balzer decided to start a shop of their own, the space at 1821 Steiner Street between Bush and Sutter, former home to a bridal shop, became available. And now Spice Ace, their clean white store with marble countertops and a bejeweled chandelier, has opened, offering local shoppers 250 herbs, spices and blends from around the world.

“I’d never want to open a store anywhere else,” says Dillan as she floats around the store, eagerly showing off salts and herbs in white-topped glass jars. “This is my home and my favorite neighborhood.”
The triangular Cyprus flake salt looks like a new-fallen snowflake; Dillan recommends a pinch to perk up a slice of fresh tomato. “The fleur de sel was harvested from salt ponds in France,” she says. “All you need is a little bit and — pop!”

From truffle to rosemary, lavender and Himalayan pink salt, the new shop offers a world of nonprocessed spices. The herbs come from organic or sustainable farming practices.

Dillan and Balzer have traveled the globe learning about spices and how they are used in their native lands. Dillan wants to help customers develop their own blends, and hopes eventually to host blending seminars at the store.

Balzer and Dillan’s tastes differ, although they both agree on quality. Balzer prefers peppers and chilies — especially the smoked ones. They house an extensive chili collection, including whole red savina habaneros, one of the hottest peppers on earth.

“The beauty of William Bounds is that they crush the pepper versus grind it,” he says. “The wheel doesn’t clog. These are my favorite crushers and we’re offering a variety to our customers.”

Also on Spice Ace shelves: chervil, commonly used in herbs de Provence, along with smoked pasilla de Oaxaca, a somewhat fruitier chile, six different Himalayan salts and a tart, lemony sumac from Turkey. Other offerings include infused sugars, but only one ginger candy. And forget chocolate. Balzer suggests adding ground cardamom to ice cream.

If it’s paprika you’re after, you’ll have to ask. It’s hidden away in drawers because it loses its flavor and color when touched by light.

“Not all spices are aromatic, but they come alive in oil or with heat,” Dillan says. “I love to cook, and using fantastic spices makes it better. I want to give people the small joys and happiness I get from using good spices.”

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STREET TALK

TWO TOP TOQUES AT FILLMORE & PINE

He’s not ready just yet to serve up the new name or the food concept planned for the now-shuttered and butcher-papered space on the northwest corner of Pine and Fillmore. But John Litz, who jettisoned the old Thai Stick sign last month, just introduced his partners in the venture he’s set to establish there: the top toque team of Sayat and Laura Ozyilmaz.

Between them, the two chefs have cooked at five of the 50 world’s best restaurants, according to the respected San Pellegrino list for 2018, including: 111 Madison Park and Le Bernardin in Manhattan, Blue Hill at Stone Barn in Tarrytown, N.Y., Murgaritz in San Sebastian, Spain, and San Francisco’s own Saison. All are either Michelin two or three star rated. Currently the duo are owner-chefs of Istanbul Modern SF, a pop-up restaurant on Russian Hill.

It seems fitting that the former shoe repair shop at 2448 Fillmore has been reborn as a shoe store. But while it offers ballet flats, as many other shops do, Rothy’s is not like the rest. Its flats are made in China from recycled plastic water bottles.

“Look good in your Rothy’s and feel good about your Rothy’s,” boasts the online company, which now has its first brick-and-mortar store.

THREE NEW SPOTS OPEN IN THE LOWER FILLMORE

The craft grocer Merchant Roots is now open at 1365 Fillmore, offering gourmet packaged items, prepared food and dinner three nights each week.

The LoMo got another notable new restaurant when the pop-up RTB Fillmore reopened in April at 1552 Fillmore as Avery. It offers tasting menus at $89, $189 and $289, with wine or sake pairings.

A few blocks south at 1521 Eddy, the Fillmore Social Club is open and serving up Korean cuisine in what once was Gussie’s Chicken & Waffles.

COMING TO FILLMORE: WINE WITH VERVE

The former Gimme Shoes shop at 2358 Fillmore — in recent months a series of pop-ups — now has its city approvals to be transformed into Verve, a wine store also offering tastings and other events.

Verve already has a similar shop in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood, where it offers “a curated selection of global greatest hits.”

LET US COUNT OUR MICHELIN STARS

How fortunate are we to live in this neighborhood? The new Michelin guide offers a clue.

• Three Fillmore restaurants got a star: SPQR, the Progress and State Bird Provisions, plus Octavia at Octavia and Bush and Spruce on Sacramento.

• At 3127 Fillmore, Atelier Crenn got two stars.

• And we can still claim Quince, now all beautifully grown up in Jackson Square, which got a full set of three stars, and first planted its roots where Octavia is now.

That’s not all: Dosa and Sociale are on the Bib Gourmands list of restaurants with “exceptionally good food at moderate prices.” (And so is Quince’s handsome brother, Cotogna.)